Wf)c  Jubge’s 

Bectston 


Henry  Albert  Collins 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


The  needy  sick  in  non-Christian  lands  may  be  counted  not  by  thousands,  but  by  millions.  Is  not  their  right  to 
medical  aid  just  as  insistent  as  ours?  The  group  of  dispensary  patients  shown  above  is 
typical — men,  women  and  children  flock  to  the  missionary  doctors. 


mt 

Jubge’g  BectSton 


BY 


HENRY  ALBERT  COLLINS 
“The  Life  Annuity  Man” 

Author  of 

"The  Banker's  Investment ”  “ The  Happy  Man" 
"After  Many  Days"  "Their  Golden  Wed¬ 
ding"  "His  Silent  Partner"  "Life 
Annuity  Text  Book"  Etc. 


Published  by 

THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  OF  THE 
METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 


Copyright  1916 
by 

Henry  Albert  Collins 

All  rights  reserved 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


[  Page  5 


tEfje  Stabge’si  decision 

WHILE  practicing  in  the  college  gym¬ 
nasium,  Allen  Worthington  received  a 
telegram  from  his  mother.  Opening 
the  envelope  hastily,  he  read :  “Come  home  Fri¬ 
day.  Mother.” 

Dressing  quickly,  Allen  went  to  the  college 
president  and  showed  him  the  telegram,  saying : 
“Doctor,  will  you  please  excuse  me  from 
school  ?” 

“Certainly,  my  boy.  You  may  be  excused.” 
“This  is  Tuesday,”  said  Allen.  “I  want  to 
leave  here  on  Thursday  evening,  so  as  to  reach 
home  early  on  Friday  morning.” 

“Why  not  go  to-night?” 

“Mother  wired  to  come  Friday.  If  there  was 
anything  serious  the  matter  she  would  have  said 
to  come  at  once.  With  your  permission,  I  will 
plan  to  leave  Thursday  night.” 

“I  hope,”  said  the  president,  “this  may  not  in¬ 
terfere  with  your  recent  decision.” 

“Doctor,”  replied  Allen,  “I  am  determined  to 
carry  out  the  work  that  I  believe  God  has  called 
me  to  do.  I  have  been  very  happy  since  mak¬ 
ing  the  decision.” 

Arriving  at  home  the  following  Friday  morn¬ 
ing,  Allen  found  that  his  father  had  gone  to  his 


Page  6  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


office  and  his  mother  was  alone.  She  greeted 
him  affectionately  and  said,  “Your  father  must 
have  some  case  of  unusual  importance.  He 
leaves  home  very  early  every  morning  and  sel¬ 
dom  returns  until  nearly  midnight.  He  scarcely 
speaks  to  us  and  I  am  becoming  alarmed  about 
him.  I  want  you  to  look  into  the  matter  and  see 
what  is  the  cause  of  this  strange  preoccupa¬ 
tion.” 

Allen  Worthington  had  breakfast  with  his 
mother  and  then  went  to  his  father’s  office.  The 
clerk  said,  “The  Judge  left  for  the  Court  House 
a  few  minutes  ago.” 

Without  making  any  inquiries,  Allen  went  to 
the  court  where  his  father  was  presiding  and 
listened  to  testimony  for  more  than  two  hours. 
He  watched  his  father  carefully,  but  could  de¬ 
tect  nothing  unusual  in  his  manner  and  so  re¬ 
turned  home. 

During  court  the  Judge  was  never  at  home  at 
the  noon  hour.  After  adjournment  that  after¬ 
noon,  Allen  went  up  to  his  father,  who  greeted 
him  cordially  and  a  few  minutes  later  they  went 
home  together.  After  dinner,  Allen  said: 
“Father,  let’s  go  out  for  a  walk.” 

“Agreed,”  said  the  Judge.  For  some  time  the 
conversation  was  confined  to  local  gossip  until 
Allen  said :  “We  have  recently  had  Dr.  Richards 
at  our  college.  He  has  been  a  missionary  in 
China  for  nearly  thirteen  years.  His  experi- 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


[  Page  7 


ences  have  been  wonderful.  He  told  us  of  the 
great  opportunities  for  doing  good  in  that  mis¬ 
sion  field. 

“You  know  I  am  to  graduate  next  spring  as 
a  physician.  One  night  about  two  weeks  ago  I 
awoke  from  a  dream.  It  seemed  as  if  some  one 
was  in  the  room  and  had  spoken  to  me.  I 
listened  but  no  sound  came  to  my  ears.  I  was 
so  impressed  that  I  could  not  sleep.  At  last  I 
got  up  to  read  a  chapter  in  my  Bible.  I  opened 
the  book  at  random  and  the  first  passage  I  saw 
was,  ‘Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen 
you,  and  ordained  you,  that  ye  should  go  and 
bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your  fruit  should 
remain.’  ” 

“Well,  what  of  it?”  asked  the  Judge. 

“After  reading  that  verse  the  call  came  to  me 
very  distinctly  to  be  a  medical  missionary  in 
some  foreign  field.  Father,  will  you  consent  to 
my  going?” 

“Tut,  tut!  my  son.  Get  that  notion  out  of 
your  head.  I  have  a  chance  to  buy  a  doctor’s 
practice  here  and  I  want  you  to  get  it.  It  is  a 
practice  in  a  wealthy  neighborhood  and  in  a  few 
years  it  will  make  you  a  rich  man.” 

“Father,”  said  Allen,  “I  have  always  obeyed 
you,  but  you  have  taught  me  that  my  first  duty 
is  to  God,  and  the  Bible  says,  ‘We  ought  to  obey 
God  rather  than  men.’  What  should  I  do  in 
case  you  withhold  your  consent?” 


Page  8  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


“The  Ten  Commandments  say,  ‘Honor  thy 
father  and  thy  mother :  that  thy  days  may  be 
long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
giveth  thee,’  ”  replied  the  Judge. 

“But,  father,  I  am  honoring  you  by  obeying 
God.  Don’t  you  think  so  ?” 

“Well!  What  does  your  mother  say  about 
it?” 

“I  haven’t  mentioned  it  to  her.  I  wanted  to 
tell  you  first.  You  told  me  several  years  ago 
that  my  mother  dedicated  me  to  the  missionary 
work  before  I  was  born.  You  wanted  me  to  be 
a  lawyer,  and  to  compromise  matters  you  and 
mother  have  educated  me  to  be  a  physician.  I 
feel  sure  that  mother  will  approve  of  my  going, 
for  you  know  she  is  greatly  interested  in  mis¬ 
sionaries  and  their  work,  and  she  supports  a 
native  worker  in  India.” 

“Well,  my  boy,  what  you  say  is  true.  If  your 
mother  gives  her  consent  I  will  give  mine.  Per¬ 
haps  after  all  it  is  His  will.” 

The  two  men  shook  hands  and  there  were  tears 
in  the  eyes  of  both. 

“Thank  you,  father.  Will  you  talk  this  over 
with  mother  ?” 

“Yes,  my  boy,  I  will,”  replied  the  Judge.  The 
two  men  walked  in  silence  for  several  minutes. 

Allen  was  the  first  to  speak.  “Father,  has 
your  health  been  good  while  I  have  been  away?” 

“Yes,  fairly  so,”  answered  the  Judge,  “but 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


[  Page  9 


this  case  that  is  being  tried  before  me  is  wear¬ 
ing  on  my  nerves  and  makes  me  realize  that  old 
age  is  fast  approaching.” 

“You  must  not  work  so  hard,  father.  You 
are  in  the  prime  of  life  and  must  take  better  care 
of  your  health.” 

“That’s  so,  but  a  Judge’s  life  is  a  busy  one 
and  there  are  times  like  the  present  when  I  can¬ 
not  think  of  my  own  health.” 

“I  heard  part  of  the  testimony  of  the  case 
this  morning,”  said  Allen,  “and  while  I  do  not 
know  anything  about  the  first  trial,  yet  I  had  a 
feeling  that  something  must  be  wrong  some¬ 
where.” 

“That’s  just  it,”  interrupted  the  Judge, 
“there  is  something  wrong,  something  radically 
wrong,  and  it  is  my  earnest  desire  to  get  it 
straightened  out.  The  case  was  tried  first  over 
two  years  ago  in  the  County  Court.  An  ap¬ 
peal  was  taken  to  the  Circuit  Court  and  then  an 
appeal  was  taken  from  my  decision  to  the 
Supreme  Court.  They  reviewed  all  the  testi¬ 
mony  and  ordered  a  rehearing  in  this  court. 
This  is  really  the  hardest  case  that  has  ever  been 
before  me.” 

“Tell  me  how  it  started,”  said  Allen. 

The  Judge  hesitated  a  few  minutes  and  then 
said:  “Jesse  Watson  was  a  rich  bachelor  of  this 
city.  When  he  was  about  fifty-six  years  old  he 
made  a  will  that  was  witnessed  by  two  men  who 


Page  10  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


still  reside  here.  Some  two  years  later  Mr.  Wat¬ 
son  died.  His  will  was  admitted  to  probate,  and 
it  is  over  this  will  I  am  so  concerned.  The  will 
reads  like  this:  ‘Knowing  that  I  must  die  and 
having  sound  mental  faculties,  I  hereby  make 
this  my  first  and  last  will.  I  want  the  President 
of  our  bank  to  act  as  my  executor  and  to  serve 
without  bond.  I  direct  that  all  of  my  debts  be 
paid  promptly,  that  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dol¬ 
lars  be  given  to  each  of  my  brothers,  sisters, 
nieces,  nephews  and  first  cousins,  and  to  their 
husbands  or  wives  soon  after  my  decease,  and  a 
like  sum  to  each  of  these  relatives  yearly  for 
ten  years.’  Then  Mr.  Watson  directed  the 
executor  to  sell  all  of  the  property  at  the  end  of 
the  ten  years,  divide  it  into  two  equal  parts,  one 
part  to  be  distributed  among  his  relatives 
equally  and  the  other  half  to  be  given  to  the  for¬ 
eign  missionary  work  of  the  Methodist  Episco¬ 
pal  Church.” 

“That  looks  like  a  good  will,”  said  the  son. 
“I  can’t  see  why  there  should  be  a  contest  over 
it.” 

“Aye,  there’s  the  rub,”  replied  the  Judge.  “It 
appears  to  be  all  right  on  its  face,  but  it  has 
made  a  lot  of  trouble  and  hard  feelings  among 
the  relatives.” 

“Who  wrote  the  will  ?”  asked  Allen. 

“Mr.  Watson  wrote  it  himself,  made  it  as 
brief  as  possible  and  made  two  copies  of  it,  one 


THE  JUDGE'S  DECISION 


[  Page  11 


of  which  he  turned  over  to  the  President  of  the 
First  National  Bank  and  the  other  he  placed  in 
his  safe  deposit  box.” 

“Where’s  the  trouble  ?”  was  the  inquiry. 

“I  knew  Mr.  Watson  very  well,”  continued  the 
Judge.  “He  was  as  honest  a  man  as  ever  lived, 
and  a  very  successful  one.  He  was  greatly  in¬ 
terested  in  the  missionary  work  of  our  church. 
I  have  often  heard  him  tell  in  prayer  meeting 
that  he  was  planning  to  have  his  money  used  on 
the  foreign  field  in  the  cause  of  missions.” 

“If  he  wanted  his  money  to  go  into  the  mis¬ 
sionary  work,  why  didn’t  he  give  it  while  he 
lived?”  asked  Allen. 

“I  don’t  know,  unless  he  was  like  many  other 
people  who  cling  to  their  property  during  their 
lifetime  and  after  death  have  others  administer 
it  for  them.” 

“On  what  grounds  are  they  trying  to  break 
the  will?” 

“First,  they  tried  to  prove  that  he  was  of  un¬ 
sound  mind  when  he  made  the  will.  They 
proved  that  he  had  had  a  severe  attack  of  sick¬ 
ness  a  short  time  before  he  made  it,  but  they 
failed  to  prove  that  he  had  shown  any  signs  of 
mental  derangement.  Then  the  real  contest 
came  on  these  three  points :  The  name  of  the 
president  of  the  bank  was  not  mentioned  in  the 
will,  the  relatives  were  not  specified  by  name, 
and  he  had  a  contradiction  in  his  will  regarding 


Page  12  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


the  disposal  of  the  property,  saying  that  it 
should  all  be  sold  and  then  saying  that  half  of 
his  property  should  go  to  the  foreign  mission¬ 
ary  work  of  his  church.” 

“Any  one  could  see  what  was  meant,  and  these 
little  omissions  should  not  have  caused  any 
trouble.” 

“That  is  true,  my  son,  but  it  is  these  little 
errors  that  give  a  basis  for  many  a  lawsuit.  The 
law  is  very  explicit  and  nothing  must  be  taken 
for  granted.  Mr.  Watson  owned  shares  in  the 
First  National  Bank  and  that  is  why  he  called  it 
our  bank.  He  and  the  president  of  the  bank 
were  firm  friends  and  it  was  easy  to  see  why  Mr. 
Watson  selected  the  bank  president  to  be  execu¬ 
tor  of  his  estate.  Mr.  Watson  was  evidently 
afraid  of  overlooking  some  relative  if  he  men¬ 
tioned  each  one  by  name,  which  probably  ac¬ 
counts  for  his  drawing  the  will  as  he  did.” 

“If  his  relatives  got  a  hundred  dollars 
apiece  every  year  for  ten  years  and  then  got 
half  of  his  estate,  it  seems  to  me  as  if  they 
should  have  been  satisfied,”  said  Allen.  “Did 
any  of  his  people  ever  help  him  to  make  his 
money  ?” 

“No,  not  one,”  replied  the  Judge.  “On  the 
other  hand,  most  of  his  relatives  have  received 
help  from  him  as  long  as  he  lived.  The  fact 
that  he  knew  them  so  well  is  probably  why  he 
provided  the  hundred  dollars  apiece  for  the  ten 


DON’T 

WORRY 

t 

- • - 


JUST  A  WORD 


Do  you  spend  sleepless  nights  thinking 
of  your  investments  ? 

Does  interest  day  come  and  the  expect¬ 
ed  money  fail  to  arrive? 

Do  your  stocks  or  bonds  depreciate  in 
value  ? 

Does  the  company,  in  which  you  have 
invested,  pass  its  dividends? 

Is  your  income  so  small  that  you  are 
compelled  to  take  chances  in  or¬ 
der  to  increase  it? 

Is  your  money  idle  part  of  the  time  be¬ 
cause  you  cannot  decide  upon  a 
safe  investment? 

Do  you  depend  upon  friends  to  invest 
your  money  for  you  and  then 
question  their  judgment  ? 

Are  you  responsible  for  the  care  of  some 
dependent  friend  or  relative  ? 

Have  you  good  real  estate  which  in  your 
old  age  proves  a  burden  to  you  ? 

Are  you  troubled  because  of  taxes,  as¬ 
sessments,  insurance  and  repairs  ? 

IF  YOU  ARE  WORRIED  ABOUT 
ANY  OF  THESE  THINGS,  LET 
US  HELP  YOU. 


LISTEN! 

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For  further  information  address  GEORGE  M.  FOWLES,  Treasurer 
150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


[  Page  13 


years.  He  no  doubt  hoped  that  by  the  end  of 
that  time  they  would  have  learned  how  to  take 
care  of  the  money.” 

“Is  it  much  of  an  estate?”  asked  the  son. 

“Yes.  The  estate  is  big  enough  to  make  a 
nice  contest,  and  so  it  proves  to  be.  The  real 
legal  fight  was  against  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions.  While  Mr.  Watson  stated  in  his  will 
that  one-half  of  his  estate  was  intended  for  the 
foreign  missionary  work  in  his  church,  yet  he 
failed  to  state  the  legal  title  of  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions,  and  the  officers  of  the  Board 
could  not  produce  any  written  evidence  that 
Mr.  Watson  had  ever  intended  to  give  his 
money  to  them.” 

“How  did  you  decide  the  case,  father?” 

“After  consuming  three  weeks  of  time  and 
hearing  scores  of  witnesses  on  both  sides,  I 
rendered  the  decision  that  the  will  must  stand. 
I  ordered  the  executor  to  proceed  with  the  set¬ 
tlement  of  the  estate  as  provided  in  the  will. 
The  heirs  appealed  the  case,  and  now,  after 
nearly  six  weeks  of  controversy,  we  seem  to  be 
no  nearer  a  solution  than  we  were  at  the  out¬ 
set.” 

“It  must  mean  a  big  expense  to  carry  the 
case  along.” 

“Yes,  indeed,  thousands  of  dollars  have  been 
worse  than  squandered  on  it,  but  the  worst  fea- 


Page  14  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


ture  of  the  case  is  the  bitter  feeling  it  has  en¬ 
gendered  among  the  relatives.” 

“Why,  how’s  that?”  said  Allen.  “I  thought 
the  relatives  were  the  ones  that  were  trying  to 
break  the  will  so  that  they  could  get  all  of  the 
property.” 

“It  would  appear  so,”  answered  the  Judge, 
“but  these  are  the  facts:  When  the  contest 
was  commenced  the  executor  refused  to  pay  any 
of  the  relatives  their  money,  although  each  had 
been  paid  their  first  hundred  dollars.  The  ex¬ 
ecutor  was  clearly  within  the  intent  of  the  terms 
of  the  will  when  it  said  to  pay  all  of  the  ex¬ 
penses  first,  and  no  one  knows  as  yet  how  much 
they  will  be.  It  is  now  over  three  years  since 
Mr.  Watson  died.  The  poorer  of  the  relatives 
want  to  quit  and  have  the  estate  settled  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  terms  of  the  will,  but  the  richer  heirs 
want  to  fight  the  case  to  the  bitter  end,  even 
if  they  lose  out.  Then  the  brothers  and  the 
sisters  of  the  deceased  are  contending  for  a 
larger  share  than  the  cousins  should  have.  So 
you  see  this  is  a  big  legal  tangle.  I  have  lost 
much  sleep,  and  studied  my  library  carefully 
for  precedents.” 

“That’s  too  bad,”  interrupted  the  son.  “I 
hope  your  next  decision  will  be  upheld,  even  if 
the  case  is  appealed  again.” 

“Yes,  I  hope  so  too.  One  of  the  worst  things 
about  a  contest  of  this  kind  is  the  publicity 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


[  Page  15 


given  to  the  matter.  Some  newspapers  that 
take  a  delight  in  casting  a  slur  on  the  church 
and  its  activities  try  to  make  it  appear  that 
the  officers  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
are  neglecting  their  business  when  they  take 
time  to  contest  a  suit  in  court.  I  hold  that  it 
is  their  business  to  attempt  to  carry  out  the 
wishes  of  their  deceased  friends  and  to  protect 
the  rights  of  the  Board.  I  am  well  pleased 
with  the  attitude  of  the  officers  of  our  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions. 

“Then  another  thing  that  disturbs  me  is  the 
great  amount  of  time  lost  by  prominent  busi¬ 
ness  men  who  are  called  and  recalled  as  wit¬ 
nesses.  I  know  that  if  Mr.  Watson  were  pres¬ 
ent  with  us  today  he  would  be  very  indignant 
at  the  whole  procedure.” 

“Father,  why  don’t  you  try  to  get  the  con¬ 
testants  to  compromise  the  matter?”  asked 
Allen. 

“I  did,  at  first,  but  I  found  so  much  oppo¬ 
sition  that  I  finally  gave  it  up.” 

“Who  were  the  ones  at  fault?” 

“It  was  one  faction  of  the  relatives.  They 
were  nearly  all  opposed  to  any  part  of  the 
money  going  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 
I  know  just  how  Mr.  Watson  wanted  his  estate 
divided  and  I  must  do  all  in  my  power  to  have 
it  settled  his  way.  I  tried  to  reason  with  the 
relatives  and  some  of  them  accused  me  of  trying 


Page  16  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


to  get  a  share  of  the  missionary  money  for  my¬ 
self.  I  have  faithfully  tried  to  keep  down  the 
expenses,  but  scores  of  men  and  women  have 
been  summoned  as  witnesses,  some  of  them  liv¬ 
ing  at  a  considerable  distance,  and  all  of  the 
expenses  have  to  come  out  of  the  estate.” 

“When  will  this  trial  end?” 

“In  a  few  days,  I  hope,  but  I  have  already 
heard  that  threats  are  being  made  of  what  will 
happen  to  me  if  I  do  not  rule  to  set  the  will 
aside.  I  cannot  conscientiously  do  that.  I 
wish  there  were  some  better  way  to  settle  up 
estates  than  by  making  wills,  for  they  are  so 
frequently  broken.” 

“There  is  a  better  way,”  said  Allen. 

“How’s  that?” 

“There  are  a  number  of  commercial  com¬ 
panies  doing  a  large  and  very  successful  Life 
Annuity  business.  Their  agents  emphasize  the 
fact  that  the  Life  Annuity  system  presents  the 
ideal  way  of  settling  up  an  estate.” 

“Yes,  I  know  of  the  Life  Annuity  plan,”  re¬ 
sponded  the  Judge,  “and  I  believe  it  to  be  a 
good  system.  I  wish  more  people  would  adopt 
this  method  of  settling  up  their  financial  mat¬ 
ters  before  they  die.  It  would  save  much  liti¬ 
gation  and  hard  feeling.” 

“Our  college  has  recently  gone  into  the  Life 
Annuity  business,”  said  Allen.  “The  reason 
for  this  was  the  loss  of  a  large  legacy.  Not 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


[  Page  17 


long  ago  a  man  died  leaving  fifty  thousand  dol¬ 
lars  to  our  college.  The  will  was  broken,  the 
college  did  not  get  a  cent  of  the  money  intended 
for  them  and  the  legal  expenses  were  so  great 
that  there  was  scarcely  anything  left  for  the 
relatives.” 

“There  are  hundreds  of  similar  cases,”  said 
the  Judge.  “It  is  not  only  in  the  breaking  of 
wills  that  the  colleges  and  the  church  societies 
lose  money,  but  by  the  failure  of  banks.  Let 
me  tell  you  of  a  case.  I  know  an  aged  couple 
in  this  city  who  saved  their  money,  often  deny¬ 
ing  themselves  things  that  we  call  real  necessi¬ 
ties  in  order  to  leave  money  at  their  death  for 
foreign  missions.  This  couple  had  their  money 
invested  in  a  bank.  The  bank  failed  and  this 
man  and  his  wife  lost  over  half  of  their  savings. 
It  would  have  been  much  better  both  for  the  old 
couple  and  for  the  missionary  cause  if  this 
money  had  been  invested  in  Life  Annuity  Bonds 
of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.” 

After  their  long  walk,  Allen  and  his  father 
returned  home  to  find  Mrs.  Worthington  anx¬ 
iously  awaiting  them,  and  the  subject  of  An¬ 
nuities  was  not  further  discussed. 

The  following  Sunday  Dr.  Wright,  Secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  who  had 
been  compelled  to  attend  the  trial,  was  asked 
by  Judge  Worthington’s  pastor  to  occupy  the 
pulpit.  He  took  for  his  text  Luke  18:22,  “Sell 


Page  18  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


all  thou  hast,  and  distribute  unto  the  poor,  and 
thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven.” 

Judge  Worthington  with  his  family  occupied 
their  pew  as  usual.  The  Secretary  told  how 
this  rich  young  man  had  so  much  money  that  it 
took  most  of  his  time  to  look  after  his  prop¬ 
erty.  He  did  not  have  any  time  to  give  to  the 
real  work  of  the  kingdom.  If  he  had  invested 
his  money  in  such  a  way  as  to  free  himself 
from  its  care  and  then  devote  his  income  and 
his  time  to  matters  of  real  importance,  the 
Master  would  not  have  rebuked  him. 

Many  Christian  people  in  these  days  are 
making  the  same  mistake  for  which  Jesus  re¬ 
buked  this  young  man.  Their  intentions  are 
good,  but  their  time  is  so  occupied  with  the 
care  of  their  possessions  that  they  cannot  do 
much  for  the  advancement  of  God’s  cause. 
They  try  to  excuse  themselves  on  the  ground 
that,  at  their  death,  this  money  will  all  be 
willed  to  the  church  or  some  of  its  benevolent 
organizations,  but  even  in  this  they  often  fail, 
“for,”  said  the  preacher,  “during  my  fifteen 
years  as  Secretary,  only  a  small  proportion  of 
our  church  members  have  mentioned  our  Board 
in  their  wills  and  in  a  number  of  these  cases  the 
wills  have  been  broken. 

“In  order  to  avoid  the  contest  of  wills,  to  pro¬ 
vide  a  sure  way  for  money  being  used  as  the 
persons  desire,  and  at  the  same  time  to  relieve 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


[  Page  19 


them  from  the  care  of  their  property,  our 
Board  has,  for  a  number  of  years,  been  writing 
Life  Annuity  Bonds.  This  form  of  investment 
is  becoming  more  popular  every  day,  for  by 
this  Life  Annuity  plan  donors  or  their  relatives 
receive  the  annuity  regularly  and  the  principal 
goes  on  doing  good  to  the  end  of  time.” 

Dr.  Wright  made  no  allusion  to  the  Watson 
trial,  but  the  congregation  could  see  what  the 
speaker  had  in  his  mind. 

When  the  services  were  over,  Mrs.  Worth¬ 
ington  asked  her  husband  to  invite  the  Secre¬ 
tary  to  dinner.  The  invitation  was  gladly  ac¬ 
cepted. 

During  the  meal  Mrs.  Worthington  asked 
many  questions  regarding  the  work  of  Foreign 
Missions. 

Dr.  Wright  explained  how  the  work  of  the 
foreign  fields  is  prospering  and  showed  the  ur¬ 
gent  need  for  people  and  money  to  help  main¬ 
tain  and  enlarge  the  enterprise. 

Before  dessert  was  served  the  Judge  said: 
“Allen,  let  us  tell  your  mother  and  Dr.  Wright 
what  we  talked  about  last  Friday  evening.” 

Allen  moved  his  chair  closer  to  his  mother 
and  began  telling  of  his  recent  college  experi¬ 
ence.  When  he  spoke  of  his  decision  to  become 
a  medical  missionary,  tears  came  to  his  mother’s 
eyes  and  she  breathed  a  prayer  of  thankfulness. 


Page  20  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


At  the  close  of  the  meal,  the  judge  invited  his 
son  and  the  Secretary  to  go  into  the  library. 

Judge  Worthington  opened  the  conversation 
by  asking  Dr.  Wright :  “If  Allen  goes  into  this 
work,  what  salary  will  he  receive?” 

The  Secretary  replied :  “He  will  receive  from 
six  hundred  to  one  thousand  dollars  a  year,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  cost  of  living  in  the  field  to  which 
he  is  assigned.” 

The  Judge  moved  uneasily  in  his  big  chair 
and  said:  “That’s  entirely  too  small  a  sum. 
My  son  would  make  more  than  that  amount  of 
money  in  a  month  if  he  would  practice  medi¬ 
cine  in  this  city.” 

“That  is  probably  true,”  replied  the  Secre¬ 
tary,  “but  the  medical  missionary  work  on  the 
foreign  field  is  more  enduring.” 

“Why  don’t  you  pay  a  salary  that  is  com¬ 
mensurate  with  the  work?”  asked  the  Judge. 

“Simply  because  we  are  not  in  a  position  to 
pay  more,”  replied  the  Secretary.  “The  de¬ 
mands  are  so  great  in  the  fields  now  occupied, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  fields  yet  untouched,  that 
all  of  the  foreign  missionary  societies  are  com¬ 
pelled  to  economize  in  every  possible  way.” 

“Well!  I  approve  of  the  work  you  are  do¬ 
ing,”  said  the  Judge.  “How  much  money  will 
it  take  to  buy  one  of  those  Life  Annuity  Bonds 
that  you  talked  about  this  morning,  so  that 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


[  Page  21 


Allen  might  have  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a  year 
while  he  is  over  there?” 

“Why,  father !”  exclaimed  Allen,  “there  is  no 
need  for  that.  I  can  get  along  on  the  mission¬ 
ary  salary.” 

“That’s  all  right,  my  boy,  but  I  want  to  sup¬ 
port  you  while  you  work  over  there,  and  this 
will  release  a  salary  for  another  missionary.” 

“Do  you  want  this  money  paid  to  your  son 
for  seven  years,  if  he  lives,  or  for  his  natural 
life?”  asked  Mr.  Wright. 

The  Judge  told  Dr.  Wright  that  he  preferred 
to  buy  a  Life  Annuity  Bond  for  his  son,  for 
which  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  would  pay 
this  annuity  as  long  as  Allen  lived. 

After  the  Secretary  left  Judge  Worthing¬ 
ton’s  house,  Allen  said :  “Father,  I  want  to  tell 
you  a  secret.  There  is  a  young  lady  named 
Helen  Robinson  attending  our  college.  She  is 
about  my  own  age,  and  is  one  of  the  best  singers 
in  college.  She  is  much  interested  in  mission¬ 
ary  work,  and  we  have  often  talked  over  the 
opportunities  for  doing  good  in  the  mission 
fields.  She  is  an  orphan  and  has  worked  her 
way  through  school  and  will  graduate  next 
spring.  I  am  deeply  in  love  with  her,  but  have 
not  asked  her  to  be  my  wife.  If  you  consent  I 
will  ask  her  to  go  with  me  to  the  foreign  field 
next  fall.  Should  she  accept  me  the  salary  you 
have  provided  will  give  us  an  adequate  income. 


Page  22  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


We  would  be  the  happiest  people  in  the  world 
and  she  would  be  a  great  help  in  my  work.” 

“So  you  have  been  courting  and  studying  at 
the  same  time !”  laughingly  exclaimed  the 
Judge.  “Well !  I  wonder  if  this  Miss  Robinson 
is  the  daughter  of  the  Reverend  George  F.  Rob¬ 
inson,  a  Methodist  minister?” 

“That  was  her  father’s  name.  Why,  father ! 
do  you  know  Miss  Robinson?” 

“Indeed  I  do,  I  knew  her  father  before  her. 
He,  poor  man,  was  unable  to  leave  anything 
for  the  support  of  his  family  and  Helen  has  had 
a  hard  struggle  to  secure  an  education.” 

“I  am  glad  you  know  Helen,  father.  I  be¬ 
lieve  if  she  becomes  your  daughter-in-law  you 
will  be  proud  of  her.” 

“I  asked  the  Secretary  to  call  here  to-mor¬ 
row  evening,”  said  the  Judge.  “We  are  going 
to  discuss  further  that  annuity  matter.” 

The  next  day  the  Judge  went  to  court  as 
usual.  The  Watson  case  dragged  along  all  of 
the  afternoon,  neither  side  seeming  to  gain  any 
advantage.  Just  before  time  for  the  court  to 
adjourn  one  of  the  lawyers  for  the  prosecution 
arose  and  said,  “May  it  please  the  Court  to 
adjourn  until  tomorrow  morning.  It  may  be 
that  we  will  have  something  new  to  offer  at  that 
time.” 

After  the  court  had  adjourned  this  lawyer 
tarried  to  see  the  Judge  and  said  to  him :  “Some 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


[  Page  23 


of  our  people  heard  Dr.  Wright  preach  yester¬ 
day  morning  and  we  are  beginning  to  feel  that 
we  should  compromise  this  case  and  have  it 
settled.” 

Judge  Worthington  proposed  that  they  tele¬ 
phone  to  Dr.  Wright  and  ask  him  to  meet  them 
at  once.  The  Judge,  the  Secretary  and  the 
lawyer  were  soon  engaged  in  an  earnest  con¬ 
versation.  Plans  for  compromising  the  matter 
were  made,  and  before  these  men  separated  Dr. 
Wright  said:  “Gentlemen,  it  seems  that  the  old 
prophet  was  right  when  he  wrote,  ‘So  shall  my 
word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth:  it 
shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but  it  shall  ac¬ 
complish  that  which  I  please,  and  it  shall  pros¬ 
per  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it.’  ” 

The  Secretary  accompanied  the  Judge  to  his 
home  for  dinner  and  when  the  meal  was  over 
they  adjourned  to  the  library  to  talk  over 
money  matters.  After  some  preliminary  con¬ 
versation  the  Judge  said:  “Mrs.  Worthington 
and  I  have  been  talking  over  our  financial  af¬ 
fairs  and  we  have  decided  to  invest  one  half  of 
our  money  in  Life  Annuity  Bonds  with  your 
Board.  It  will  provide  us  a  safe  and  perma¬ 
nent  income  during  our  lifetime,  and  it  will  per¬ 
petuate  our  work  to  the  end  of  time.”  They 
also  took  out  a  Life  Annuity  Bond  for  Allen, 
so  that  the  income  would  provide  a  modest 
salary  for  a  medical  missionary. 


Page  24  ] 


THE  JUDGE’S  DECISION 


“We  are  convinced  that  this  plan  of  investing 
our  money  will  give  us  happiness  in  two  worlds,” 
said  the  Judge.  “It  will  also  avert  the  danger 
of  having  a  lawsuit  over  our  estate,  and  as  you 
have  said  it  will  tend  to  lengthen  our  lives.” 

Before  the  Worthington  family  and  Dr. 
Wright  had  separated,  arrangements  had  been 
made  for  the  purchase  of  these  bonds. 

The  Secretary,  as  he  bade  farewell,  shook 
hands  with  each  one  and  said,  “The  Judge’s  de¬ 
cision  is  wise.  I  hope  his  example  will  influence 
many  others  to  make  the  same  kind  of  an  in¬ 
vestment.” 

LIFE  ANNUITY  BONDS 

of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church 

AN  ABSOLUTELY  SAFE  INVESTMENT.  During  the 
past  50  years,  2,193  banks  have  failed  in  the  United 
States,  involving  a  loss  of  $110,625,555.69.  The  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions  has  been  in  existence  for  nearly  a 
century  and  has  never  failed  to  pay  every  obligation. 
Back  of  your  Annuity  Bond  there  is  property  to  the 
amount  of  millions  of  dollars,  and  a  large  and  increasing 
income  from  over  four  million  members  of  the  Church. 

A  LARGER  INCOME.  Will  yield  more  than  the  ordinary 
safe  investment  and  you  will  have  no  taxes,  repairs  or 
insurance  to  pay. 

WILL  PERPETUATE  YOUR  GOOD  WORK  FOR 
THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD.  It  will  be  in  daily  use 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  those  in  darkness. 

ATTRACTIVE  RATES.  Bonds  vary  from  4  percent  to  8 
percent  according  to  age  of  the  annuitant. 


